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MAKING
HIGH-QUALITY
DECISIONS
Making High-Quality Decisions Course Objectives
You will learn to:
Recognize the impact of decision making on your team and organization and on your own
success.
Apply a process and best practices for analyzing problems and opportunities and for making
high-quality decisions.
Cover image © Last Resort/Digital Vision/Getty Images. Directional arrows on a road sign pointing to three
different directions represent the choices we face as leaders. To get to our ultimate destination—a quality
decision—we must carefully weigh the alternatives and use good judgment to choose the best route.
This course is part of DDI’s global Interaction Management® system for developing exceptional leaders and individual
®
contributors. It also is offered and sold under the trademarks Interaction Management : Exceptional Performers Series,
® ® SM SM
Interaction Management : Exceptional Leaders Series, IM: EX , IM: ExP , and IM: ExL .
© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMXI. Revised MMXII. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All rights reserved under U.S.,
International, and Universal Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia,
and other countries. Development Dimensions International, Inc., prohibits the reproduction of any portion of these materials in any
medium without prior written agreement. These materials may be used only with related printed and digital materials and digital media.
Furthermore, clients are required to provide each viewer of the video with a complete set of related printed or digital materials for that
person’s use during and after the training. Such materials are not intended for or authorized for use by others. DDI and marks designated
with ® are trademarks of Development Dimensions International, Inc., and are registered in the United States and several international
jurisdictions.
MAKING HIGH-QUALITY DECISIONS
Welcome to Sip-for-a-Spell
Background
Sip-for-a-Spell is a beverage shop in the heart of the downtown market district of a large city. It is
owned by Jamie, who is extremely invested in seeing the business succeed.
Sip-for-a-Spell is known as a place where you can enjoy the conversation as much as your
favorite nonalcoholic beverage. It offers:
x A wide selection of coffees, teas, juices, and soft drinks.
x Snacks, such as pretzels and chips.
x A limited line of prepackaged pastries and sandwiches.
You are one of Jamie’s two silent business partners. You and the other partner each own
20 percent of the shop and hope that Jamie’s business model can be expanded, either through
opening more shops in other locations or, more likely, through franchising.
While you are not involved in the day-to-day operations of Sip-for-a-Spell, Jamie relies on your
advice to run the business and especially needs your help and guidance right now.
FROM: Jamie
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance for giving me your best advice. I
think we have a real winning business model. Sip-for-a-Spell is a place where everyone who
comes to the market district—young, old, professionals, factory workers, families, and visitors to
the city—can relax and enjoy each other’s company over their favorite beverage.
I keep an eye on how we compare price-wise to nearby competitors, and our prices are very
similar to others’.
I know you want the business to succeed as much as I do, so here’s what’s been going on:
x We’ve had a drop in sales lately. I believe the problem is directly related to construction on
major streets that makes it very inconvenient for customers to drive to the market district.
That construction is ending this week, so I think we’ll see business pick up soon.
x I’ve heard some grumbling from customers who want us to provide free wireless Internet, so I
posted a sign a few weeks ago letting everyone know that we’ll have it up and running next
month. My plan is to focus a bigger share of our advertising budget on the new wireless
service.
I think I’m on the right track with this. Are you OK with what I want to do?
GATHER Information
x What additional information would you like to have, and from what sources?
Notes
Use this space to take notes on what Jamie has to say.
INTERPRET Information
“I’ll be getting wireless Internet soon,” Jamie thinks to himself. “I could lease the vacant storefront
next door. Then I could open up that space to create a study or quiet area.”
Jamie thinks to himself, “Adding to the menu would be a moderate investment. Still, how would it
look if I mimic Fill-to-the-Brim and offer protein shakes?”
Marci: “Jamie, it’s nice to talk with you. Your timing is impeccable. Our committee met just
last night to discuss ways to increase awareness and customer traffic.”
Marci: “From what I’ve heard, over the last six months, most retail businesses in the
market district have been doing OK and are making money. The new health club is
drawing more people to the area, so most shops are seeing a small increase in
customer traffic. Also, we’re working on a full-scale promotional campaign to attract
more people to the district. One idea is to work with business owners like you to
create a coupon book with promotions. We’d try it for a year. Is that something that
interests you?”
Jamie: “Sure. Anything to increase traffic flow in my shop. I’m adding wireless Internet
access next month because I know the college students expect it.”
Marci: “You might be surprised that college students make up only about 3 percent of the
district’s target market. Most customers are business professionals—from a variety
of service-related industries—and visitors.”
Marci: “Yes, indeed. We encourage our frequent customers to think of the market district as
their one-stop place to shop, eat, and entertain. It would be great if more shops like
yours would offer a wider array of food items. Our research indicates we don’t offer
enough choices for a good, inexpensive lunch. And would you consider staying open
longer in the evening?”
Jamie thinks to himself, “The committee has some good ideas. Maybe I should go along with
some of their plans. Some would require minimal investments, while others are more substantial.
On the other hand, I know my partners aren’t keen on making too many changes at this time.”
When analyzing problems/opportunities in your work group, how can you help people to be
objective, especially when they have strong opinions?
What advice, tips, or best practices can you share to ensure that you conduct the most accurate
analysis possible?
Pitfalls Team
What advice, tips, or best practices can you share to avoid or overcome one or more of these
common pitfalls when analyzing problems or opportunities in your organization?
Missing the signs:
Being overconfident:
Thinking subjectively:
Going it alone:
Failing to act:
Your Problems/Opportunities
Think about the initiatives you are responsible for supporting or the objectives you are
responsible for achieving over the next 6–12 months. They should be tied to your organization’s
strategic goals and objectives. For example, they might involve:
x Increasing productivity or revenue.
x Reducing costs.
x Getting products to market more quickly.
x Serving customers more effectively.
With these goals and objectives in mind, consider the important decisions you and your team will
need to make in the months ahead to either solve problems, meet challenges, or make good
processes even better. Then, write the following information in your Decision-Making Planner
under the IDENTIFY step:
x Problem/Opportunity.
x Business objective or initiative it supports.
x Analysis/Judgment required.
Your Ideas
Use this space to list your ideas for improving sales.
GENERATE Alternatives
Challenge the status quo. Most people naturally default to existing, accepted ideas and
approaches—the status quo. To challenge the status quo, consider:
x Involving people who are new to the team or organization. They may offer ideas that are
out of the mainstream for your organization.
x Asking “what if?” For example:
– What if you could consider any option, not just the most acceptable or safest?
– What if you were facing this problem or opportunity outside the workplace?
– What if you had unlimited funds or approval for any option?
FROM: Jamie
I appreciate all your hard work in coming up with alternatives. You’ve given me some great
ideas. Here’s where things stand right now:
x I’m not ready to sell the business or radically change the basic premise of Sip-for-a-Spell—
that people of all ages and walks of life want a place in the market district where they can
relax and enjoy each other’s company over their favorite beverage.
x I’m open to menu or environment changes that would require a modest investment and
maybe some employee training, as long as they don’t involve a huge, up-front investment.
x I need a solution that will return sales and profitability at least to previous levels within four to
six months.
Given the information Jamie has provided, what are some important criteria for this decision
relative to:
x Cost?
x Quality?
x Quantity?
x Time?
Jamie realizes that he will need to do some additional advertising to promote the
alternative he chooses. One more thing: Clearly, Jamie doesn’t have the resources to
undertake more than one of these alternatives in the next year, so he needs to make sure
that his choice will return Sip-for-a-Spell to profitability.
Sip-for-a-Spell Alternatives
Alternative #1: Add protein shakes and other fitness-related products.
x The equipment investment would be relatively small compared to other alternatives.
x The cost of initial and ongoing inventory of product (e.g., flavors of protein powder for shakes,
protein bars, and cookies) would be medium, as buyers want variety. For each protein shake
or related item sold, the profit margin likely would be less than on other beverages due to the
relatively higher product cost.
x Training costs to educate employees on fitness products and in how to prepare protein
shakes would be relatively low.
x Jamie expects his staffing costs to rise slightly. Instead of hiring new employees, he feels
that current staff would be glad to work a few more hours each week.
Alternative #3: Remodel and expand into the vacant storefront next door.
x The owner of this retail property is eager to lease the storefront at an attractive rate. He’s
also willing to make the structural changes needed to blend the new space into Sip-for-a-
Spell’s environment so that it doesn’t look like an add-on.
x Jamie’s investment in appropriate furniture and wall décor would be more than the other two
alternatives and would approach the upper limit of what he can afford.
x Jamie has always wanted to expand. He thinks he can generate more business through
networking events such as morning and lunchtime discussion groups.
x No employee training would be needed, and Jamie feels that he wouldn’t need to
add staff.
Instructions
Here’s the process for evaluating each alternative:
1. Evaluate these three alternatives as a team.
2. Start by assessing the risk of each alternative using the Risk and Reward tool (page 22).
3. Evaluate each option using the Impact/Effort Grid (pages 23–24).
Use this tool to examine the levels of risk and reward of the alternatives you are considering.
You also can use it to think of ways to prevent or minimize the risk. For each alternative, note
long-term benefits, what could go wrong and the probability of this occurring, and what could
be done to prevent or minimize these risks.
Decision Alternative #1: Add protein shakes and other fitness-related products.
Decision Alternative #3: Remodel and expand into the vacant storefront next door.
Impact/Effort Grid
This tool helps you choose actions that will achieve maximum results through minimum effort.
Use it:
x To decide which action(s) to take from among several alternatives.
x When you’re considering actions that require varying amounts of effort or expense and that
will have varying results or impact.
x When you can take only a limited number of actions.
Instructions
1. Record your decision goal below. This is what you want to accomplish by making the
decision.
2. List the options you’re considering in the table on the next page and then assign a number to
them.
3. Discuss what impact each option would have on the decision goal. Rate each option as
follows, and then write your rating in the Impact column of the table:
H = High M = Medium L = Low
4. Discuss how much effort and expense would be needed to carry out each option. Rate each
option as follows and write your rating in the Effort column:
1 = Little 2 = Moderate 3 = Great
5. On the small grid below the table, plot each option number according to the rating you
gave it.
6. Choose the option(s) that gives the highest impact for the least effort.
Decision Goal: To return to profitability in four to six months with a moderate investment.
I
High
M
P
Medium
A
C
Low
T
1 2 3
Little Moderate Great
EFFORT
Interpreting an Impact/Effort Grid: This tool helps you examine decision options by estimating
the amount of time and cost each option will take to accomplish (i.e., the effort) compared to the
results you hope to achieve (i.e., the impact). In most cases, options with greater impact than
effort are more desirable. This tool does not include all factors used to make decisions, such as
each option’s best-case/worst-case scenarios, time to complete, and organizational support.
Sip-for-a-Spell Presentations
Instructions: As you listen to the other teams’ presentations, please record any comments or
suggestions that you feel were strong points and that demonstrated good application of the
Decision-Making Process. Also, note any questions or concerns you would have in accepting
their recommended course of action.
Hazelnut Team
Strong points this team made:
Notes
Notes
From all that I’ve experienced in this session, what would be the most helpful to share with my team?
Who in my organization effectively uses the skills or knowledge I’ve learned, and how can I continue to develop
through this person’s example?
How can I use the skills from this session outside my work—with my family, friends, community, etc.?
To refresh and expand your learning, use
a QRC app on your mobile device to scan this
code, or visit: http://www.ddiworld.com/mhqd
Making High-Quality Decisions Learn more about Development Dimensions International (DDI)
by visiting www.ddiworld.com
Part Number: EXLMHQDCJV1-0
File Name: AE-EXL-MHQD-CJ-V1-0 © Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMXI. Revised MMXII. All rights reserved.
This publication is printed entirely on paper from certified sustainable resources and is
part of our larger commitment to environmental, corporate, and social sustainability.
*JMQX*
JMQX
The Talent Management Expert ~
MAKING HIGH-QUALITY DECISIONS JOB AID
• Generate
without
evaluating.
• Use creative-
thinking
approaches. • Act with appropriate urgency.
• Challenge the • Communicate the business case.
status quo. • Plan the implementation.
Decision-Making Planner
1. IDENTIFY the problem/opportunity.
A 2. GATHER information.
• Gather to understand, not to confirm Whom to involve:
• Ask, “How much is enough?”
L
S 3. INTERPRET information.
• Consider biases and blind spots Whom to involve:
• Leverage intuition based on experience
• Describe the problem or opportunity
I
S
Write your formal problem/opportunity summary:
• State opportunity or root cause
• Describe the impact of taking no action
• Recommend course of action
• Cite information used
© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMXI. Revised MMXII. 1 Permission is granted to photocopy this page for internal use only.
MAKING HIGH-QUALITY DECISIONS
J •
•
Generate without evaluating
Use creative-thinking approaches
Whom to involve:
• Challenge the status quo
U
D
5. EVALUATE alternatives and risks.
G • Use your “enterprise lens” Whom to involve:
• Openly discuss biases and influences
• Develop best-case/worst-case scenarios
M
E
6. CHOOSE alternative.
N
• Leverage intuition based on experience Whom to involve:
• Identify contingencies
T • Check your decision with stakeholders, manager, colleagues
7. COMMIT to action.
• Act with appropriate urgency Whom to involve:
• Communicate the business case
• Plan the implementation
© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMXI. Revised MMXII. 2 Permission is granted to photocopy this page for internal use only.
MAKING
HIGH-QUALITY
DECISIONS
Resource Guide
Making High-Quality Decisions Resource Guide
Table of Contents
Decision-Making Pitfalls .............................................................................................................. 1
Self-Assessment ......................................................................................................................... 45
This course is part of DDI’s global Interaction Management® system for developing exceptional leaders and individual
contributors. It also is offered and sold under the trademarks Interaction Management®: Exceptional Performers Series,
Interaction Management®: Exceptional Leaders Series, IM: EX®, IM: ExPSM, and IM: ExLSM.
© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMXI. Revised MMXII. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All rights reserved under U.S.,
International, and Universal Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia,
and other countries. Development Dimensions International, Inc., prohibits the reproduction of any portion of these materials in any
medium without prior written agreement. These materials may be used only with related printed and digital materials and digital media.
Furthermore, clients are required to provide each viewer of the video with a complete set of related printed or digital materials for that
person’s use during and after the training. Such materials are not intended for or authorized for use by others. DDI and marks designated
with ® are trademarks of Development Dimensions International, Inc., and are registered in the United States and several international
jurisdictions.
MAKING HIGH-QUALITY DECISIONS RESOURCE GUIDE
Decision-Making Pitfalls
Everyone is susceptible to making mistakes and falling into common traps or pitfalls when making
decisions. Being aware of the following obstacles and taking steps to overcome them will make
you a better decision maker.
Mary should have realized that the small but steady increase in the team’s error rate signified
a larger issue. She was so busy that she decided to wait and see if the rate would continue
to increase before taking action. It did, and now two of the company’s best customers have
threatened to pull their business.
Chris is a sales director whose team has always achieved or exceeded its goals. Sales are
down, and he’s looking for reasons. His sales prospecting dashboard indicates that the
number of sales leads has gradually decreased over the last three months—about the time
that Marketing launched its new advertising campaign. Although he has no hard evidence,
he’s convinced the campaign is to blame. He’s decided to ask Marketing to revamp the
campaign’s message so that it will generate more leads.
Being Overconfident
Having overconfidence in your own thinking, experience, or ability to affect future outcomes;
being excessively optimistic about the outcome of planned actions or the likelihood of positive
events.
Barbara leads a team of programmers charged with building an e-portal that would greatly
simplify how clients access multiple applications at the same time. Although this type of
e-portal has never been built using their programming language, she’s sure her team can do
it and still meet a key client’s deadline. The team has completed many such difficult
assignments in the last two years.
Note: Overconfident people often fail to explore or examine all the relevant information available
to them. Instead, they often feel that they can make decisions with less information than is
reasonable or prudent.
Thinking Subjectively
Making analyses and judgments based on your own or others’ impressions, feelings, and
opinions rather than external facts.
Carl has supervised the second-shift assembly unit for 10 years. During the last six months,
the plant manager has been providing Carl with productivity information that shows his unit
has been responsible for more assembly errors than any other shift. Carl has countered that
his unit is tasked with the most complex orders and shouldn’t be held accountable for three
recent assembly errors on orders that were started on the first shift but finished on the
second shift.
Note: This pitfall differs from Being Overconfident in that it occurs when people fail to view or
evaluate information objectively. It causes people or teams to over- or undervalue information
based on their own opinions or biases.
Going It Alone
Failing to tap others’ thinking and perspectives in analyzing situations and formulating judgments;
failing to involve stakeholders when discussing findings and agreeing on actions.
Lee is a new supervisor in the Client Relations Group. One of her first tasks is to create and
send a satisfaction survey to top clients. Its purpose is to gather key information about the
kinds of services clients want and how the company can better meet their needs. Lee was
assigned this task because she had experience in developing client surveys while with her
previous employer. Instead of checking with sales managers, the project delivery group, or
even her experienced team, Lee has decided to develop the survey on her own and have it
distributed so the results will be available before the first quarter ends.
In both of these situations, Going It Alone can lead to lower-quality decisions, as it is more difficult
to implement a decision made without the necessary involvement of key colleagues, partners,
and/or stakeholders.
Failing to Act
Waiting for someone else to take the lead in resolving problems or making judgments; viewing a
problem or decision as someone else’s responsibility; failing to follow through on a decision.
Matt leads the Corporate Services Group that has several responsibilities, including shipping
materials to clients. His team has researched alternative shipping options and has
recommended a plan that, on the surface, seems as if it would save the company an average
of 5–7 percent in shipping costs over the next year. Although the choice seems clear, Matt is
hesitant to formally implement the new option because it would mean he must communicate
the change to a number of different groups.
The key to recognizing problems and opportunities is to actively look for them and encourage
teammates and colleagues to do the same. Even problems, when spotted early, can ultimately
be turned into opportunities. These initial observations often lead to ideas for improving
processes or customer service, reducing costs, or improving employee morale or productivity.
In turn, these ideas often require decisions.
Check internal and external sources. Problems and opportunities can be identified through
both internal and external data sources:
• Internal data—includes sales or performance records, ideas taken from suggestion boxes,
and informal communication gathered via your network, team meetings, task forces, quality
committees, and even hallway conversations.
• External data—includes competitor information, research reports, and customer surveys and
feedback.
2. GATHER information.
You’ve identified a significant problem or opportunity, and you know you need to act on it.
Most people would have an immediate urge to start problem solving. Resist this urge! Reacting
impulsively can lead to a bad decision that doesn’t address the real issue, problem, or
opportunity. Instead, gather the information needed to better understand the situation.
For complex situations, organize data collection by listing all information needed (data, history,
best practices, expert opinions, etc.) and identifying sources. You also might need to organize
the collection of data, for example, by asking people to help you and assigning data-gathering
responsibilities.
Sort . . .
Sort this information into logical clusters, such as:
• Background information. What occurred? How often? What were the circumstances?
Who was involved?
• Empirically researched information. What does the research say?
• Opinions from experts. What do the subject matter or technical experts say?
• Others’ personal experiences and viewpoints. What do those involved or affected by the
situation say? Has anyone experienced something similar?
For routine situations, gathering information might be accomplished quickly (e.g., by calling
someone or reviewing a report). Even in routine, everyday situations, gathering some data to
better understand the issue, problem, or opportunity can mean the difference between drawing
sound conclusions and making a misdiagnosis.
. . . Then Source
Once you know what information you need, determine where you can get it. Sources of
information include:
• People (e.g., experts, suppliers, customers, those closest to a situation, or those
implementing the decision).
• Internal reports (e.g., production, sales, quality, customer complaints).
• Company intranet or the Internet.
Ask, “How much is enough?” Balance the need to gather information with the need to draw
conclusions and act within your window of opportunity. A routine analysis of an everyday
situation might require only one or two phone calls or a quick review of some reports. However,
when analyzing major problems or opportunities, you’ll need to decide when you’ve collected
enough information. Stop gathering information when:
• You’ve collected information from all perspectives.
• You believe that you and others have enough information to make a decision that will elicit
everyone’s confidence.
• You have reliable information from all of your primary sources.
• No new information is emerging.
3. INTERPRET information.
Interpreting information involves thinking logically and critically about the data you’ve
gathered and drawing objective conclusions from it. Inadequate or inaccurate analysis can lead
to poor decision making and wasted time and energy.
For routine situations, you’ll draw conclusions from the data you’ve collected using your
reasoning skills. Perhaps you’ll consult your manager or a colleague to check your initial findings.
However, when there are large amounts of data and the analysis is more difficult or complex,
you’ll want to use a more scientific approach.
These three types of logic are not mutually exclusive; people use a combination of reasoning all
the time. You will use all of them to critically evaluate information, drawing conclusions from the
data you’ve gathered. Your goal is to weigh the information objectively and look for links between
distinct pieces of data. Some links include:
• Comparisons—similarities and differences between your current situation and other
situations inside or outside the organization.
• Connections—ties between your current situation and distinct pieces of information and the
people involved.
• Changes—new occurrences or deviations from expectations.
• Trends—a general tendency toward improvement or deterioration.
One of the greatest safeguards against biases in analysis and decision making is to adhere to a
strong, formal process. The Decision-Making Process provides just such a structure, with
steps for gathering and interpreting information, and then for generating, evaluating, and
choosing alternatives.
The accumulation of experience, contrary to some earlier conceptions, does not weigh down
people by forcing them to sift through a lifetime of data. Indeed, it frees them to act and enables
them to move their mind into a sort of “unconscious overdrive” as they interpret data. However,
intuition is “real” only when born of experience. Someone who is in uncharted waters would be
wise not to trust his or her intuition.
Describe the problem or opportunity. The quality of your summary of a problem or opportunity
can be as important as the quality of your analysis. When the problem or opportunity has
significant impact, stakeholders need a clear description of your findings; the effect on the
business, work group, or organization; your recommended course of action; and, in many cases,
your supporting data and information. For less significant situations, you might need to only
communicate this information informally.
If you need to gain commitment from others to take action, you can help them along by explaining
the process you used to arrive at conclusions—including the data collected, the sources you
collected it from, and how it was compiled and analyzed—and the support you’ll need to move
forward.
See the next page for guidelines on crafting an effective problem/opportunity summary.
The following pages include an example of an effective problem summary and an opportunity
summary.
4. GENERATE alternatives.
Alternatives are important for all but minor decisions, when any way to meet the desired
outcomes and criteria works as well as another. Generating alternatives helps to ensure that you
build creative thinking into the decision-making process; this, in turn, results in better solutions. In
addition, people will have more confidence in your decision-making ability if they know you
consider more than one option.
Your ideas usually build on the information you gathered in step 3, but they also might come from
other creative-thinking approaches. The key is to be creative. List all your ideas—no matter
how unusual they might seem. When you review them, you’ll see some that not only could work,
but that also can be an achievable means for meeting your desired outcomes.
Challenge the status quo. Most people naturally default to existing, accepted ideas and
approaches—the status quo. Everyone has heard or even made the comment, “That’s not how
we do things here.” To challenge the status quo when generating alternatives, consider:
• Involving people who are new to the team or organization. They may offer ideas that are out
of the mainstream for your organization.
• Asking “what if?” For example:
– What if you could consider any option, not just the most acceptable or safest?
– What if you were facing this problem or opportunity outside the workplace?
– What if you had unlimited funds or approval for any option?
Decision criteria are measurable and observable characteristics the decision must meet, such as
quality, quantity, cost, and time. To identify your decision criteria, consider:
• Performance requirements or capabilities (quality, quantity, expertise).
• Physical characteristics (size, color, image/style, location).
• Resource constraints (time, cost, people).
• Problems or undesirable effects to avoid.
• Current policies or regulations.
• Any expected changes to the current situation.
It’s unusual for all criteria to be equally important. To make a high-quality decision, determine the
relative importance of each criterion. You can:
• Define each criterion as “essential” or “useful.”
• Rank each criterion on a scale of either “most important” to “least important” or from 1 to 10,
with 10 being the highest.
Categorizing or ranking criteria will help you evaluate your alternatives with greater assurance
that the most important criteria are being met.
For more complex decisions, use a Criteria Screen (see pages 39–40). This tool creates a
visual image, enabling you to compare each alternative against your criteria. We reference this
tool, the Balance Sheet, and the Impact/Effort Grid at the end of this section.
Assess Risks
Just as all criteria are not equally important, not all decisions carry the same risk. Use the
following process to determine the potential risk of a decision:
1. Identify what could go wrong and the magnitude of the consequences.
2. Gauge the probability of the risk actually occurring.
3. Explore ways to prevent or minimize the risk.
Use the Risk and Reward tool (page 35) to gauge the levels of risk and reward of the
alternatives you are considering. You also can use it to think of ways to prevent or minimize the
risk. For each alternative, note long-term benefits, what could go wrong and the probability of this
occurring, and what could be done to prevent or minimize these risks.
Using your enterprise lens also enables you to view decisions in the larger context of your
functional area and organization. No decision is made in a vacuum, and looking beyond your
team or department will help you make choices that align with the organization’s values, culture,
and practices.
Openly discuss biases and influences. This technique is discussed in the context of
interpreting information to reach conclusions about a problem or opportunity. However, biases
also can surface when generating, evaluating, and choosing alternatives. Rather than ignore
biases, bring them out in the open where they can be discussed and understood.
Develop best-case/worse-case scenarios. It’s impossible to know the future, but it is possible
to envision what could happen if you choose an alternative by creating best-case/worst-case
scenarios.
To develop a worst-case scenario, pretend that the alternative you’re considering has been
implemented and has failed. Ask yourself:
• What does this scenario look like? What is the impact?
• What caused this to happen?
• How likely is this scenario to occur?
• What can be done to prevent, minimize, or plan for these influences or events?
• Given the likelihood of this scenario, its impact, and our ability to prevent it, is this a viable
alternative?
To construct a best-case scenario, pretend that the alternative you’re considering has been
implemented and has achieved complete success. Then, ask yourself:
• What does this scenario look like? What is the impact?
• What led to the success of this alternative or approach?
• How likely is this scenario to occur?
• Given the likelihood of this scenario, its impact, and our ability to make it happen, is this a
viable alternative?
Impact/Effort Grid (pages 36–37)—This tool helps you evaluate the level of effort and expected
impact, and then choose actions that will achieve maximum results through minimum effort.
Balance Sheet (page 38)—Use this tool to contrast and weigh positives and negatives.
Criteria Screen (pages 39–40)—This tool helps you evaluate and choose from among two or
more options by rating them against criteria you’ve identified as important.
6. CHOOSE alternative.
After gathering and analyzing the information, you are in a good position to choose the
most effective alternative. Before making your choice, examine experiences or “lessons learned”
and consider your recommendation by answering questions such as:
• How effectively does the recommendation alternative address the issue?
• Will the alternative achieve the desired outcome?
Use the answers and your evaluation tools (see page 23) to choose the alternative that best
meets your desired outcomes and criteria without being too risky.
As useful as intuition can be in decision making, remember that it is “real” only when born of
experience. It also can be affected by your state of mind. If you are under great pressure or are
upset or frustrated, your inner voice can be distorted or unreliable amid these strong feelings.
Identify contingencies. At this point in the process, you already should have thought through
what could go wrong if you choose a particular alternative. Now identify actions you will take if
any of these scenarios occur. The idea is not to plan for every possibility, but to focus on those
that are most likely to occur or would have a major negative impact.
Check your decision with stakeholders, manager, colleagues. For more important decisions,
you’ve probably already involved your manager or other stakeholders in the process or have kept
them abreast of your progress. So, of course, you’ll want to inform them of your decision and,
perhaps, seek their final input. However, even in the case of more routine decisions, it usually
pays to check your thinking with your manager or a trusted colleague. It’s amazing how often
people are able to provide a perspective or advice that we didn’t consider.
7. COMMIT to action.
Some people make decisions easily and enjoy doing so. People who dislike making
decisions often won’t take any action until they have all the information from every source and
feel 100 percent confident in their choice. The results frequently go something like this: The
problem worsens, new problems arise, the opportunity becomes obsolete, or someone else
makes the decision.
Effective decision makers recognize that there is an element of risk to any decision. However, by
following the decision-making process and committing to an action, they can tip the scales in
favor of making a good decision.
Communicate the business case. Why did you act on this problem or opportunity? Why did
you make this particular choice? You’ve answered these questions for yourself; however, if the
decision affects others, you’ll also need to provide answers for them. To do this:
• Describe the problem or opportunity and its impact on performance or results. (You might
already have put this in writing in step 3.) If you’re addressing a problem, ask yourself:
– What is the problem, and how is it affecting performance or results? Reduced
productivity? Wasted resources? Higher costs? Lower morale?
– What might happen if this problem gets worse?
• If you’re acting on an opportunity, ask yourself:
– What is the opportunity, and how will it affect performance or results? Increased sales?
Increased output? Lower costs? Improved teamwork?
• Communicate the decision and explain how it will resolve the problem or take advantage of
the opportunity. Share your decision criteria and explain how the alternative or course of
action you chose meets them.
Get in touch with everyone who needs to understand the decision, support it, or help carry it.
Do this by:
– Identifying who should know what by when.
– Determining the best way(s) to communicate with those who need to know.
– Communicating in ways that encourage feedback on how the decision is implemented.
Plan the implementation. Depending on the size and scope of your decision, you may need to
think through how you will implement it. A decision can get derailed when people don’t know
what they need to do, or do differently, to carry it out.
Even simpler or routine decisions require some planning to make sure they are carried out and
achieve their desired outcomes. Here are some things you can do:
• Brainstorm a list of everything that needs to be done to implement the decision.
• Plan who will carry out each action and develop a schedule for implementing the decision.
• Set checkpoints at which you’ll monitor progress.
Planning Your Implementation (page 41)—This tool helps you craft a plan for communicating
and implementing a decision.
Communicating with Others: Who and How? (page 42)—Use this tool to think through whom
you will share your decision with, what they will need to know, and how you will communicate with
them.
Decision Postmortem (pages 43–44)—This checklist helps you examine decisions you’ve made
to determine what you did well and not so well and to apply lessons learned to future decisions.
Decision-Making Planner
1. IDENTIFY the problem/opportunity.
A 2. GATHER information.
• Gather to understand, not to confirm Whom to involve:
L • Ask, “How much is enough?”
S 3. INTERPRET information.
• Consider biases and blind spots Whom to involve:
• Leverage intuition based on experience
S
Write your formal problem/opportunity summary:
• State opportunity or root cause
• Describe the impact of taking no action
• Recommend course of action
• Cite information used
Decision-Making Planner
4. GENERATE alternatives.
J •
•
Generate without evaluating
Use creative-thinking approaches
Whom to involve:
• Challenge the status quo
U
D
5. EVALUATE alternatives and risks.
G • Use your “enterprise lens” Whom to involve:
• Openly discuss biases and influences
• Develop best-case/worst-case scenarios
M
E
N 6. CHOOSE alternative.
• Leverage intuition based on experience Whom to involve:
• Identify contingencies
T • Check your decision with stakeholders, manager, colleagues
7. COMMIT to action.
• Act with appropriate urgency Whom to involve:
• Communicate the business case
• Plan the implementation
Instructions
1. Use the following table to describe an upcoming decision you will need to make.
Check reliability
• Does the source have a personal stake in the decision?
• Does the source have a reasonable amount of expertise in this area?
• Is the source biased toward interpreting information in a particular way?
Note: If you answer yes to any of these questions, gather more information from a
different source.
Instructions
Use the following questions to check that you have interpreted your information accurately and
objectively.
Yes No
1. Have you acquired information that falls only within your scope of
experience or expertise?
5. Have you involved people who could look at the information from
different perspectives and provide different conclusions?
If you answered no to any of these questions, you might be inclined to misinterpret the
information. To avoid this, ask others what conclusions they would draw from it. You might
check with:
• Internal and external customers.
• Colleagues who can approach the decision objectively.
• Your leader.
• Anyone who must implement the decision or who will be affected by it.
• Informed people with a perspective different from yours.
Use this tool to examine the levels of risk and reward of the alternatives you are considering.
You also can use it to think of ways to prevent or minimize the risk. For each alternative, note
long-term benefits, what could go wrong and the probability of this occurring, and what could
be done to prevent or minimize these risks.
How would you prevent or minimize the risks of choosing this alternative?
How would you prevent or minimize the risks of choosing this alternative?
How would you prevent or minimize the risks of choosing this alternative?
Impact/Effort Grid
This tool helps you choose actions that will achieve maximum results through minimum effort.
Use it:
• To decide which action(s) to take from among several alternatives.
• When you’re considering actions that require varying amounts of effort or expense and that
will have varying results or impact.
• When you can take only a limited number of actions.
Instructions
1. Record your decision goal below. This is what you want to accomplish by making the
decision.
2. List the options you’re considering in the table on the next page and then assign a number
to them.
3. Discuss what impact each option would have on the decision goal. Rate each option as
follows, and then write your rating in the Impact column of the table:
H = High M = Medium L = Low
4. Discuss how much effort and expense would be needed to carry out each option. Rate each
option as follows and write your rating in the Effort column:
1 = Little 2 = Moderate 3 = Great
5. On the small grid below the table, plot each option number according to the rating you
gave it.
6. Choose the option(s) that gives the highest impact for the least effort.
Decision Goal:
I
High
M
P
Medium
A
C
Low
T
1 2 3
Little Moderate Great
EFFORT
Interpreting an Impact/Effort Grid: This tool helps you examine decision options by estimating
the amount of time and cost each option will take to accomplish (i.e., the effort) compared to the
results you hope to achieve (i.e., the impact). In most cases, options with greater impact than
effort are more desirable. This tool does not include all factors used to make decisions, such as
each option’s best-case/worst-case scenarios, time to complete, and organizational support.
Balance Sheet
This tool helps you decide between two or more options (an either/or decision) or whether to do
or not do something (a go/no-go decision).
For a go/no-go decision, use one table (i.e., “go” rationale in the PROs column, “no-go”
rationale in the CONs column).
Option #1:
PROs CONs
Option #2:
PROs CONs
Criteria Screen
Instructions
Is your group having trouble choosing from among options that are of the same or similar type?
This tool will help your group evaluate and choose from among these options by rating them
against criteria you’ve identified as important. The best option would then be the one that best
satisfies the criteria. To use this tool, follow these steps:
1. In the space below, record your group’s decision goal—what it wants to accomplish by
making the decision.
2. In the left columns of the tables on the next page, identify the criteria that your options must
meet and the criteria that are only useful, “nice to haves.” Involve people outside of your
group, if necessary, to help identify these criteria.
3. Record the options along the top numbered row.
4. Rate how well each option meets the criteria, using the following scale. Select the
appropriate rating:
-1 = Does not meet criteria +1 = Meets criteria +2 = More than meets criteria
5. Add the ratings to arrive at scores for both “must-be-met” and “nice-to-have” criteria.
6. Evaluate the options based on the scores.
Note: As you gather data about options, you might learn about features or constraints that you
were unaware of at first, which might cause you to make changes. Factor any new and revised
criteria into your final choice.
Decision Goal:
Score
Score
The guidelines and questions below help you develop a plan for communicating and
implementing your decision. They prompt you to identify specific actions you and others will
take, needed resources, time frames, and points at which you will check progress.
Note: Implementation planning is more effective when others are involved. If you must develop
a plan alone, have others review it before putting it into action.
Have I identified possible risks and actions to eliminate or minimize them? (See the tool Risk
and Reward on page 35 for help.)
Have I built in enough time for each action needed to implement the decision?
Use this tool to think about whom you will share your decision with, what they will need to
know, and how you will communicate with them. Consider the suggestions in the left column,
and then note specifics for your decision in the right column.
Decision Postmortem
These checklists help you examine decisions you’ve made to determine what went well or not
so well and to apply lessons learned to future decisions. Think through these items as soon as
possible after you’ve implemented a decision and learned the results. Respond to the
checklists to assess your decision process and results. In the right column, record what you
would do the same or differently when making a future decision. If appropriate, use the
checklists for feedback from others involved in the decision.
In making the decision, did you: Here’s what I’ll do differently or the same to
Gather enough information from credible plan, make, or implement future decisions:
sources?
Interpret the information objectively and
accurately?
Generate quality alternatives that met the
decision criteria?
Evaluate alternatives against the criteria
objectively?
Assess the risks associated with each
alternative?
Avoid decision traps?
In implementing the decision, did you:
Communicate it to the appropriate people
in a timely and appropriate way?
Identify the support and resources
needed to follow through on it?
Monitor the implementation to ensure that
the decision was being carried out and
was effective?
Make necessary changes or corrections
to it?
Self–Assessment
STEPS
GATHER information
INTERPRET information
GENERATE alternatives
CHOOSE alternative
COMMIT to action
PITFALLS
• Being overconfident
• Thinking subjectively
• Going it alone
• Failing to act
Notes
Making High-Quality Decisions Learn more about Development Dimensions International (DDI)
by visiting www.ddiworld.com
Part Number: EXLMHQDRG
File Name: AE-EXL-MHQD-RG © Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMXI. Revised MMXII. All rights reserved.
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